“We search the internet everyday looking for the very best of What’s Happening, primarily on Manhattan’s WestSide, so that you don’t have to.” We make it as easy as 1-2-3.

For future NYC Events be sure to check the tab above: “Notable NYC Events-August”
It’s the most comprehensive list of top events this month that you’ll find anywhere.

Have time for only one NYC Event today? Do this:

A LOVE SUPREME (Aug. 18-20)
A Tribute to John Coltrane Featuring Azar Lawrenceat Smoke / 7, 9 and 10:30PM, $ 38
“Mr. Lawrence worked in the 1970s with both McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones, very nearly touching the hem of John Coltrane’s garment (Jones and Mr. Tyner were half of Coltrane’s classic quartet). He was known then, as he is now, as one of Coltrane’s direct descendants on the tenor saxophone. Here he offers a program titled “A Love Supreme,” celebrating Coltrane’s repertoire. He’ll appear with a quartet, to include his frequent collaborators Benito Gonzalez on piano and Essiet Okon Essiet on bass.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

Kenny Barron and Ray DrummondMezzrow, 163 W. 10th St./ 8PM, +9:30PM, $20-25
“Mainstream jazz piano has its most elegant champion in the veteran virtuoso Barron, who, at seventy-four, remains at the top of his game. He’s joined by another distinctly graceful player, the bassist Drummond, who, after decades of interaction, has a second-sight connection with Barron. (Check out the live sets from the nineteen-nineties, recorded at the late, lamented Bradley’s, for proof of their early telepathy.” (NewYorker)

BATTERY DANCE FESTIVALat Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park (Aug. 13-18) 7PM, FREE
and the Schimmel Center (Aug. 19, 6PM).
“For the first six nights of this weeklong festival, which is now in its 36th year, Battery Dance, in association with the Battery Park City Authority, has arranged a glorious backdrop for moving bodies: New York Harbor. Mixed bills feature an eclectic lineup that includes Danuka Ariyawansa and Behri Drums and Dance Ensemble from Sri Lanka; Bollylicious, a Belgium-based collective; and Mophato Dance Theater, an Afro-fusion and contemporary dance company from Botswana. There will be local groups too, like Janis Brenner & Dancers, Peridance Contemporary Dance Company, and, of course, Battery Dance. On Tuesday, the organization teams up with the Indo-American Arts Council to offer a showcase of Indian dance artists.” (NYT-GIA KOURLAS)

TRIO DA PAZ AND FRIENDS (Aug. 15-20 and 22-27)Dizzy’s Club / 7:30PM, +9:30PM, $40
“Trio Da Paz has been around for 31 years, and it’s held down a summer residency at Dizzy’s for the last 10. With Romero Lubambo on guitar, Nilson Matta on bass and Duduka Da Fonseca on drums, the group calls its music “samba jazz.” It’s not false advertising; the triumvirate is given to up-tempo excursions, high on friction — not the lilting bossa nova that you might expect from a Brazilian guitar trio. These comrades will find new angles of engagement over their two-week run, during which they will welcome various special guests on different nights, including the vocalist Maucha Adnet and the trumpeter Claudio Roditi.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

Billy Hart Quartet (thru Aug.20)VILLAGE VANGUARD / 8:30PM, 10:30PM; $30
“As a sideman, drummer Billy Hart played on some of the heaviest, headiest jazz albums of the late Sixties and early Seventies, including Karma by Pharoah Sanders, Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi, and the Miles Davis psych-bop classic On the Corner. Yet, as a leader, there is a sense of warmth and beauty to his oeuvre that jibes more with Hart’s time with Stan Getz in the late Seventies — particularly when he’s in the company of his longtime quartet, rounded out by Ethan Iverson on piano, bassist Ben Street, and saxophonist Mark Turner. Six months after a successful run at the Jazz Standard, the BHQ head downtown to the Vanguard, a place where Billy has banged the drums countless times before. And since they’re three years removed from the release of their 2014 LP on ECM, One Is the Other, we can only hope this six-night residency (which also promises special-guest appearances) will debut some new material for their next record as well.” (Ron Hart, VillageVoice)

Songbook Summit59E59 Theaters,/ 7PM, $35
“It’s delightful, it’s delicious, it’s de-lovely.
Will Anderson and Peter Anderson are identical twins who play the saxophone and clarinet. They will perform in a six-piece ensemble throughout August highlighting four great American composers: Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, George Gershwin, and Richard Rodgers. The first week is Porter, so anything goes!

“Virtuosos on clarinet and saxophone,” (The New York Times) identical twins Peter & Will Anderson return to 59E59 Theaters by popular demand for a celebration of the great American Songbook. Shining the spotlight on the work of four of its most distinguished composers (one composer each week), a 6-piece ensemble featuring vocalist Molly Ryan will perform hits such as ‘Summertime’, ‘My Favorite Things’, ‘Night & Day’,’Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, and ‘Rhapsody in Blue’.August 15 – 20: George Gershwin
Featuring ‘Rhapsody in Blue’, ‘Summertime’, ‘I Got Rhythm’, ‘They Can’t Take That Away from Me’, ‘Our Love is Here to Stay’, and more!

Screening & Live Event | Dawson City: Frozen TimeMuseum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave./ 7:30PM, $15
Part of Dawson City: Frozen Time
“As the last stop on the distribution chain, the Canadian Gold Rush town of Dawson City ended up with stacks of early 1900s newsreels and films. They were supposed to be destroyed (and thought long gone) until a bulldozer unearthed them seven decades later. Filmmaker Bill Morrison has etched these pieces together in a new film, which will be shown through Sunday, August 20th at the Museum of the Moving Image. Friday night he appears live.” (ThoughtGallery.org)

=====================================================Bonus NYC events– Jazz Venues:
Many consider NYCity the Jazz capital of the world. Here are my favorite Jazz clubs, all on Manhattan’s WestSide. Check out who is playing tonight:

Special Mention:Caffe Vivaldi – 32 Jones St. nr Bleecker St. — caffevivaldi.com / 212-691-7538
a classic, old jazz club in the Village, Caffe V often surprises with a wonderfully eclectic lineup. It’s my favorite spot for an evening of listening enjoyment and discovery.

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♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.
♦ NYCity, with a population of 8.5 million, had a record 60 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2017. Quality shows draw crowds.
Try to reserve seats for these top NYC events in advance, even if just on day of performance.

Calder: Hypermobility (thru Oct 23)
“focuses on the extraordinary breadth of movement and sound in the work of Alexander Calder. This exhibition brings together a rich constellation of key sculptures and provides a rare opportunity to experience the works as the artist intended—in motion. Regular activations will occur in the galleries, revealing the inherent kinetic nature of Calder’s work, as well as its relationship to performance. Influenced in part by the artist’s fascination and engagement with choreography, Calder’s sculptures contain an embedded performativity that is reflected in their idiosyncratic motions and the perceptual responses they provoke.”

Museum of Arts and Design(thru Aug 20)
2 Columbus CircleCounter-Couture: Handmade Fashion in an American Counterculture
“In all its sumptuous, ragtag, iconoclastic, and utopian forms, hippie clothing reflected the seismic cultural shifts of Vietnam War-era America, eschewing the mass-produced in favor of the personalized and the handmade. This captivating exhibition, installed in moodily lit galleries against purple-and-gold wallpaper, goes beyond the expected caftans and macramé to detail the nuances and extremes of countercultural aesthetics. A section devoted to stage costumes includes a medieval-inspired muumuu, its pastel-ombré velvet adorned with a starburst appliqué; Mama Cass Elliot, of the Mamas & the Papas, wore it in 1967. Nearby, looping film footage includes performance documentation of the Cockettes, an anarchic theatre group whose psychedelic, thrift-store drag sensibility helped shape a nascent queer aesthetic. From the Army-surplus garments appropriated and painstakingly embroidered by flower children to the dashikis and African fabrics embraced by the black-pride movement to the ascetic styles of communes and cults, the exhibition emphasizes how vernacular fashion signalled antiestablishment values and group identity. That said, high fashion isn’t neglected. One highlight is the visionary designer Kaisik Wong’s glittering, futuristic “wearable art,” which resembles armor and cocoons from another planet—or the next Aquarian age.” (NewYorker)

Museum of Modern Art:

‘ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG: AMONG FRIENDS’ (thru Sept.17)

“This retrospective of one of America’s great artists includes more than 250 paintings, sculptures, drawings, sound and video recordings, prints and photographs created over the course of a six­decade career. Rauschenberg sometimes worked with artists, dancers, musicians and writers (including John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Yvonne Rainer and Jasper Johns), and the exhibition will be supplemented by dance and performance.” ( STAV ZIV-Newsday)

A special pat on the back to MOMA, who is now displaying art from the seven countries affected by Trump’s travel ban.

“Trump’s ban against refugees from seven Muslim-majority nations has sparked acts of defiance in NYC, from demonstrations across town, to striking taxicab drivers at JFK to Middle Eastern bodega owners closing their shops in protest. Recently, the Museum Of Modern added its two cents by bringing out artworks it owns from the affected countries, and hanging them prominently within the galleries usually reserved for 19th- and 20th-century artworks from Europe and the United States. Paintings by Picasso and Matisse, for example, were removed to make way for pieces by Tala Madani (from Iran), Ibrahim El-Salahi (from Sudan) and architect Zaha Hadid (from Iraq). The rehanging, which was unannounced, aims to create a symbolic welcome that repudiates Trump by creating a visual dialog between the newly added works and the more familiar objects from MoMA’s permanent collection.” (TONY)

American Museum of Natural History:

Mummies (thru 1/7/18)
“For thousands of years, peoples around the world practiced mummification as a way of preserving and honoring their dead. Mummies brings you face to face with some of these ancient individuals and reveals how scientists are using modern technology to glean stunning details about them and their cultures. In Mummies, ancient remains from the Nile Valley of Africa and the Andes Mountains of South America will be on view, allowing visitors to connect with cultures from the distant past. Mummification, a more widespread practice than most think, was used not only for royal Egyptians but also for common people and even animals. Interactive touch tables let visitors virtually “unravel” or see inside mummies as they delve deep into the unique stories of the people or animals who lie within. Other parts of the exhibition showcase the latest isotopic and DNA testing being performed on mummies, and explain how these sophisticated analytical techniques are helping scientists discover important clues about long-vanished practices. Mummies was developed by The Field Museum, Chicago.”(NYCity Guide)

==============================================================For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in right Sidebar dated 08/16 and 08/14.
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